Quote:
Originally Posted by ok-ez
https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/inve...lains/3356344/
so wait the airport expands and they cut down trees at fdr to make up for it? lol what a hokey plan no wonder people are angry. First off they should have to buy out all the flood prone houses in eastwick because no doubt they're gonna flood. And 12 turf soccer fields they might as well be parking lots just creating more run off.
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Lol don't worry! They're also adding hundreds of parking spots! I think about 800 if memory serves.
And it gets better! They're not even replacing the acres of wetland that they're destroying to expand the airport! Again, not bothering to look this up at the moment, but I believe it's 47 acres destroyed, 35 created at FDR. And they're touting this as stormwater management!!!
I absolutely get that kids need athletic fields and recreational space! Philadelphia needs to build more! But it boggles my mind that some people seem to think that a project that leaves us with a net negative of critically important wetlands, is going to somehow improve stormwater management.
When they say that this plan will improve stormwater management I can only imagine that mean for FDR park itself. In which case, sure. FDR park will have better stormwater management. Which is great because the park will really need it with the one dozen artificial fields they're adding and damn near a thousand parking spaces. Rather than soaking up stormwater that would have otherwise ended up in people's homes it will be busy soaking up all the extra runoff this new park itself will create and with all of that wetland being destroyed at the airport, there's no way this is all a net positive for people in flood prone areas.
I read someone saying that we really need the fields at FDR because currently there are south philly based youth teams that have their home fields in places like Germantown. I get that, they should definitely put some fields at FDR. I do however think it's perfectly reasonable for there to maybe be less than 12. There are other places in south Philly where fields could be built. Why not put some along the Delaware river trail where all the big box stores are? those parking lots are never full, removing the amount of spaces needed to create some fields along that stretch would be trivial. Would also improve the trail as you'd abut a nice sports field instead of a dismal parking lot as you walk the trail. Would also bring people to the area and make the trail more populated and safer.
Plus, these fields would obviously be used by plenty of Philadelphians who don't live in south Philadelphia. and the far corner of FDR, a mile plus from the subway stop isn't the most convenient place for a soccer field for most south Philadelphians, much less for people from elsewhere in the city. The city basically acknowledges as much with the 100s of parking spaces they've added. Where else is Philadelphia planning to build soccer fields in the next decade? Wouldn't it make sense to spread these out some and place some elsewhere in the city? There are plenty of places where they could be added.
I'm sure that the vast majority of those advocating for this park design believe that climate change is real. But I think a lot of people who intellectually understand that climate change is happening have not exactly internalized the realty of climate change and where we're going in the next 10-20 years even in a best cast scenario. Not every place you can put an athletic field in Philadelphia was a once wetland for 1000s of years and could easily be returned to one.
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